The present technology relates generally to aircraft refueling systems and, more specifically, to systems and methods for wirelessly transferring data between an aircraft and a refueling aircraft during an airborne refueling operation.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may store data associated with aerial reconnaissance missions conducted during the course of operation. Onboard storage may become exhausted during a mission due to the storage size requirements of high resolution images and video, as well as the limitations of onboard storage space. Some systems for offloading data from the UAV's onboard storage require the aircraft to return to an airfield and land. This takes the UAV off location and out of service for a period of time.
UAV's may participate in aerial, or “in-flight”, refueling, which is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another while airborne. In-flight refueling operations involve a fuel source aircraft, i.e., a tanker, and a target aircraft, i.e., a receiver. During flight, the tanker aircraft connects to the receiver aircraft and transfers fuel. Some systems utilize a “probe-and-drogue” system for connecting the two aircraft. The tanker aircraft establishes a position in front and above the receiver aircraft, and extends a hose out into the air behind the tanker. The hose is terminated by a drogue, which is shaped to assist connecting with the receiver aircraft. The receiver aircraft has a probe extending from its surface. The probe and drogue are configured to couple together, thereby allowing fuel to flow through the hose, through the probe, and into the fuel storage system of the receiver aircraft.
In-flight refueling allows a receiver aircraft to stay airborne longer than otherwise allowed by the limitations of its fuel tank. However, a UAV has not only fuel capacity limitations, but has data storage capacity limitations as well. What is needed is a system and method for transferring data off of the UAV while refueling the UAV during flight.